Dying Is Different From Sacraficing
by crazytomboy78
Summary: When Tony takes a shot for Pepper, all goes wrong. Will Tony die saving Pepper, or will a miracle keep him alive? WARNING: this is pretty sad. Don't like a character death? Don't read. Pepperony, and lots! And yes, i know, i suck at titles. Bad me!


**Heyyy! So I got some story inspiration right in the middle of band class today. Had to keep the idea in my head all day. It's a short story, and it's quite sad! If you can't take it, then I suggest you don't try. It's gonna be pretty sad, and a little gory. But I guess you'll take it if you can watch horror movies, so here we go!**

Tony started his boot jets and quickly picked up his speed. He was aiming himself in the exact position he wanted so he could get a good shot at Shrike. Tony didn't know why he was back and wasn't with his usual ally, Unicorn, or what he was even doing back, or where he went before, but he wasn't going to stand there and ask questions. He needed to take action. He had already threatened twice to take a hostage. Tony _needed _to stop him, and _**now**_. Tony flew in place and targeted the perfect aim. He found it and shot Shrike right in the stomach with his laser **(A/N: thingy….? Idk what it's called!) **It didn't do a lot, since he _was _wearing armor. It sent him flying back a bit though. Shrike burst after that.

"That's it, Iron Man, you asked for it! I'm taking hostage. Better yet, I'll just kill the next person I see. " Shrike yelled. Then he looked to his right and saw a girl running down the street, looking like she was in some kind of hurry. He had saw this girl before. It was the one he had kidnapped. She ran with her pinkish-orange hair just barely bouncing on her head.

"There we go. Got one. Here we go, Iron Man!" Shrike exclaimed, flying off to hit Pepper with enough power to kill her. Tony started to panic.

"Pepper, run!" Tony screamed to her, catching her attention. Pepper heard what he had yelled, and saw Killer Shrike headed right for her. Tony kicked up his boot jets and flew towards the two. He flew directly in between Pepper and the missile Shrike had fired, and got shot with it. He dropped to the floor. Shrike grinned and flew off. Tony just lay there, on the ground. The missile Shrike had fired was a deadly one. It was meant to cause a slow and painful death. It was full of deadly poison, and right now, it was a powerful enough impact that it was already through the thick armor's shell. Tony could feel it ripping through his skin and bleeding into his body. A sharp pain slowly travelled to every part of Tony's body. Tony knew it would be fatal. He knew he was going to die soon enough. No hospital would be able to help him. He opened his mask so he could see Pepper's face just one more time.

"Pepper….i…." Tony tried, but stopped and winced.

"Tony, no…i-I'll get you some help, really, you can make it…" Pepper pleaded.

"N-n-no, Pepper, no one can help me. I know it….i…." Tony interrupted, even more in pain when he spoke. He didn't care. He wanted to talk to her. Pepper dialed Rhodey's cell phone and demanded he do something for her. She hung up and crouched over Tony's body, wrapped in armor as it lay on the ground.

"I, love….you, Tony, please don't leave me like this!" Pepper almost shouted, tears forming in her eyes. Tony's hearing was slowly going, but he heard her say that. He whispered back to her the last three words he could say: _I love you._ She gasped, almost screamed, and started bawling. She cupped her hands together and threw her head into them. She remained there, crouched over the ground, crying. The paramedics took Tony away, and Pepper cried harder and harder as she heard the ambulance drive off. This fight had caused a scene, and all the people who were watching stood in their spots, speechless. No one dared to move. Rhodey came to the scene, and helped Pepper to her feet. They walked away together with their heads down. Rhodey knew better than to cry like Pepper was, but he couldn't blame her. She loved him, and they were sure he was dead.

A girl sat on a wooden crate in a dusty old room of her house. Two children were gathered around her. The woman had tears in her eyes, because she had just told her children their father was dead, and why he was. Her heart hurt, and she couldn't take it.

"Daddy is never coming back, ever?" A little girl asked to her mother, softly sniffling. The little girl had brown hair that was tied into a ponytail. She had side bangs that she clipped back. She wore pink pants and a white shirt, and she was 6 years old.

"That's right, Eliza, but he loved you a lot." The woman replied, softly. The woman had short pink hair and freckles. She wore dark denim jeans, dark enough to look black, a pink v-neck sweater with a white cami underneath, and black converse sneakers. Her name was Pepper. Pepper and her daughter, Eliza, sat in their attic silently. Then a little boy with light brown hair, and a little pink in it, (hard to see.) walked into the room. He was wearing regular denim overalls and a red long-sleeve shirt underneath. He only had white socks on his feet at the moment. He was about 3 years old.

"Momma, Uncle Rhodey's van is in the driveway!" The boy said to his mother.

"What? Let me see." Pepper replied, walking out of her dusty attic, followed by Eliza, and following her son, Alec. They came to the window, where Pepper saw a white van parked in her driveway. He was right. Rhodey never took that van. What was he doing? She walked outside to ask. Right when she opened the door, Rhodey was almost at her front door.

"What are you doing here, and with your van?" Pepper asked.

"Because I came to make a special delivery." Rhodey replied, smiling. Pepper looked at him like he was crazy. Then Rhodey stepped to his side to reveal Tony Stark, humbly standing next to him. Pepper gasped, throwing her hands to her mouth, and ran to Tony and hugged him.

"Tony, I thought you died! What happened?" Pepper exclaimed, trying not to scream.

"Well turns out the hospital could help me. The doctor said I need to rest and recover at home." Tony replied, moving to his two children to hug them.

"Daddy!" they both yelled, running up to him for hugs.

"Doctor says he's not supposed to do any physical labor for a while. The doctor will also be coming in to check on him every 2 or 3 weeks. Otherwise, he's going to be just fine." Rhodey explained to Pepper. Then Rhodey had an important meeting at Stark International, so had to leave. Pepper, Alexander and Eliza Stark then helped Tony into their house and led him to the couch. They talked and reconnected.

Allow me to explain. When Tony was shot and nearly died, Pepper was already out of college and was applying for a job with the FBI. She didn't like Shield too much since Iron Man met them. Tony had already taken over his dad's company, along with his father, who he had gotten back. Tony and Pepper were already married with one child, Eliza, and one to be on the way in about eight months. (Pepper was only 1 month pregnant with Alexander that day. It took Tony those three years to recover in the hospital, and at a little physical therapy.

**The End!**

**Like, WOWW! Cool. Well, I'm going to say it one more time! Can't wait for the Hulkathon! Epiccallll. Well, review! Byee. (:**


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